Arvinder Pal Singh Batra

Marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve: An anatomical study

Smile is one of the most natural and important expressions of human emotion. Man uses his lips mainly to register his emotions. Thus, the slightest asymmetry or weakness around the lips and mouth may transform this pleasant expression into embarrassment and distortion. The circumoral musculature, the major part of which is supplied by the marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve, is the main factor in this expression. Therefore, an injury to this nerve during a surgical procedure can distort the expression of the smile as well as other facial expressions. This nerve often gets injured by surgeons in operative procedures in the submandibular region, like excision of the submandibular gland due to lack of accurate knowledge of variations in the course, branches and relations. In the present study, 50 facial halves were dissected to study the origin, entire course, termination, branches, muscles supplied by it, its anastomoses with other branches of facial nerve on the same as well as on the opposite side and its relations with the surrounding structures. The marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve was found superficial to the facial artery and (anterior) facial vein in all the cases (100%). Thus the facial artery can be used as an important landmark in locating the marginal mandibular nerve during surgical procedures. Such a study can help in planning precise and accurate incisions and in preventing the unrecognized severance of this nerve during surgical procedures.

Chromosomal instability in the lymphocytes of breast cancer patients

Genomic instability in the tumor tissue has been correlated with tumor progression. In the present study, chromosomal aberrations (CAs) in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) of breast tumor patients were studied to assess whether chromosomal instability (CIN) in PBLs correlates with aggressiveness of breast tumor (i.e., disease stage) and has any prognostic utility. Cultured blood lymphocyte metaphases were scored for aberrations in 31 breast cancer patients and 20 healthy age and sex-matched controls. A variety of CAs, including aneuploidy, polyploidy, terminal deletions, acentric fragments, double minutes, chromatid separations, ring chromosome, marker chromosome, chromatid gaps, and breaks were seen in PBLs of the patients. The CAs in patients were higher than in controls. A comparison of the frequency of metaphases with aberrations by grouping the patients according to the stage of advancement of disease did not reveal any consistent pattern of variation in lymphocytic CIN. Neither was any specific chromosomal abnormality found to be associated with the stage of cancer. This might be indicative of the fact that cancer patients have constitutional CIN, which predisposes them to the disease, and this inherent difference in the level of genomic instability might play a role in disease progression and response to treatment.

Obesity among Breast and Esophagus Cancer Patients of Amritsar District, Punjab

Abstract Obesity has been considered one of the most important known preventable causes of cancer. Most of the studies, on the association between obesity and risk of cancer have been reported from the well-developed countries, with limited data on association of obesity with cancer available from India. Therefore, in the present study, an attempt has been made to report the prevalence of overweight/obesity in female breast cancer and esophageal cancer patients of Amritsar. The data has been collected from the out patient department and surgical ward of Rotary Cancer Hospital, Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and Guru Ram Das Hospital of Amritsar. Height, weight, waist circumference and hip circumference measurement were taken on each subject to calculate their body mass index and waist-hip-ratio. The prevalence of overweight and obesity according to body mass index in breast cancer patients was quite high i.e. 52.5%, while in esophageal cancer patients the prevalence of underweight was quite high i.e. 45.0%. Among breast cancer patients, abdominal obesity according to waist circumference was 75% in pre-menopausal and 77.5% in post-menopausal women. According to waist-hip-ratio, it was 95% in pre-menopausal and 97.5% in postmenopausal women. Among esophageal cancer patients, abdominal obesity was 40% according to waist circumference and 85% according to waist-hip-ratio. It was evident from the present data that waist circumference and waist-hipratio identified more number of obese subjects than body mass index.